


Page 1,017

by molok4i



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Birthday, Birthday Presents, Established Relationship, Fluff, Happy Ending, Literal Sleeping Together, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Post-War, all around family friendly fic, and also damn good gifts!, and they are also dating :), asheril fandom rise up, but i don't even describe it so it's still rated e dw, cyril gives damn good advice, hurt/comfort is very tame, i simply adore them, in which cyril is ashe's advisor, minus cyril briefly undressing to put on some MODEST PAJAMAS, takes place in their paired ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-17
Updated: 2020-10-17
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:55:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,766
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27076861
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/molok4i/pseuds/molok4i
Summary: On his birthday, Ashe gets a hand-picked book and some much needed reassurance from Cyril, his advisor and (boy)friend.
Relationships: Cyril/Ashe Duran | Ashe Ubert
Comments: 2
Kudos: 8





	Page 1,017

**Author's Note:**

> this one goes out to the 6 other people who like asheril

Cyril was early that day. 

He came over nearly every night, sometimes to sleep, and always to talk with Ashe about work (not to mention hold him in a way he couldn’t outside of the privacy of the lord’s quarters). They had been together officially for about a month, but both agreed to not make their relationship public until Gaspard had fully recovered from the ravages of war. That event was far in the future, though, so in the meantime they settled for showing their affection behind closed doors.

Normally, he would be there at 9 PM sharp, when all the hallways were empty and Ashe was curled up in bed with a book and a candle. On the 17th of the Wyvern Moon, however, he came in at 8, holding a wrapped package and grinning from ear to ear.

“Ashe! Sorry, just couldn’t wait…” he said, making sure they weren’t being watched and closing the door.

“It’s okay, Cyril,” Ashe smiled warmly, folding the corner of the page he was on in his book and setting it on his sturdy wooden bedside table.

...Lonato’s sturdy wooden bedside table, actually. Ashe had taken his whole room upon returning from the war. He would have preferred it stayed empty, but that wasn’t possible, so he accepted the circumstances and moved in. 

“Come and sit down?” He patted the empty half of the bed, voice soft and sweet. “Or you can change into pajamas first. I know I have extras.”

“I’ll change after. First...” Cyril started, pulling off his shoes and moving to take a seat on the bed, “happy birthday.” He held out the package, face serious. 

Ashe laughed, taking it carefully in his hands and giving it an exaggerated shake. “For me? Oh, honey, you shouldn’t have...what’s inside?”

“Stop teasing me! Open it and see.” 

“Alright, alright,” Ashe chuckled, carefully tugging on the meticulously tied plum-colored ribbon. He had a feeling Cyril had wrapped it himself, so he was careful to not tear the delicately folded paper. Before long, he had it open, revealing what was inside: a book.

Once he carefully set the paper and ribbon to the side, he looked over the novel with a rapidly growing smile. “Cyril, did you pick this out on your own?”

“Oh, um, yeah…” he said, nervously messing with the sleeve of his tunic. “D’ya like it? I’m not a real big fan of books, but I looked through lots of ‘em anyways.”

“I love it, Cyril!” Ashe reassured, setting the book down so he could pull the other into a tight embrace. He held there for a moment before he suddenly got the urge to tease him again. “But you don’t like books? I may need to start reading you bedtime stories…”

“Well, uh, if you really wanna, that’s al-- _hey!_ ” He scoffed, playfully squeezing Ashe while he giggled at Cyril’s reaction. “You’re lucky I love ya.”

“I am…” Ashe confirmed, sighing happily and squeezing him in return. “Why don’t you like books, though? Not that it’s a problem!”

Cyril didn’t respond for a moment, taking the time to choose his words. “Well...I only really learned how to read when Lysithea taught me back at Garreg Mach. Still not too good at it, y’know?” He admitted. “So I don’t do it much.”

Ashe felt a pang of sadness, though he didn’t show it, knowing that Cyril wouldn’t want him to feel bad over the past. “I understand, Cyril. Reading isn’t for everyone, of course! And, to be truthful, I think that if Lonato hadn’t taught me, I wouldn’t love it nearly as much as I do…”

Regardless of his complicated feelings on the man, Ashe was too grateful for words that Lonato had been there for him and his siblings when nobody else had. Without him, Ashe knew, he would have continued his life on the streets, illiterate and alone. More than anyone else in the world, Cyril understood that feeling. That, along with all the other small similarities between them, was part of the reason they got along so well. 

“Lonato was a real great guy, huh?”

“He was…” Ashe sighed. “It was hard for me, when he died. I...I knew what he was doing was wrong, and I couldn’t excuse his cause hurting innocents, but...I just can’t get the Lonato that taught me to read by the fireplace every night for a year out of my head.”

“I’m sorry, Ashe,” Cyril said softly, rubbing his partner’s back. “Didn’t mean ta’ make ya think about all this on your birthday.”

“It’s alright, Cyril. I was...sort of thinking about it already. The book I’m reading is the one he gave me for my 11th birthday, actually. And, to be honest, I think about him all the time regardless…”

“Oh.” Cyril nodded. “I get it. I think about that kinda thing a lot, too, nowadays. Sometimes stuff that makes me sad, sometimes stuff that makes me mad, and sometimes stuff that makes me happy, even.” He spoke slowly, considering his words. Cyril clearly wanted to make Ashe aware of the fact that he wasn’t alone, and it worked. 

“I usually think of the happy things, but this time every year, I can’t help but think about the bad, as well…” Ashe admitted, burying his head in the crook of the other’s neck. They hadn’t once let up in their embrace since it began. 

“Wanna talk about it?”

The young lord fell silent for a moment, and when he did answer, his voice was small. “Yes. Is that alright, dear? I don’t want to put too much on you…”

“‘Course it’s alright, Ashe. We might be dating now, but we’re still friends, right? And friends gotta stick together, like you said.”

Ashe laughed a little at those words. “Cyril, I said that _years_ ago!”

“I know. Doesn’t mean it’s not true, though.” He said matter-of-factly. “You can tell me anything you wanna, Ashe.”

He had a point. “Well...alright. It’s just that, um,” Ashe paused, voice a little shaky. “It’s just that I can’t stop thinking about how, even after all he did, I still love him so much...I feel guilty. He hurt people, and was going to hurt more, but I can’t hate him. I know I should, but--” his voice broke and he squeezed his eyes shut. 

Cyril rubbed his partner’s back again, holding him close. “It’s okay, Ashe. You’re okay. I love you so much.” After saying that, he waited until Ashe’s breathing slowed back to normal before continuing. “I know it’s not easy, but you gotta stop being so hard on yourself. Lonato did bad things, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t do good things, too, y’know? So it’s alright to still love him for that. ‘Specially when those good things were giving you and your siblings a home.”

“I...I know. Sorry. But still, I…” Ashe trailed off, unsure.

“It’s alright.” Cyril said sympathetically. “Lemme put it this way. A book’s got lotsa pages, right?” 

“Right.”

“And all the pages go in a certain order to tell a story. But every page still exists on its own, and you can tear ‘em out and keep em separated if you wanna. Doesn’t mean the other pages don’t exist, though, ‘cause they still do. And even if ya get rid of the other pages, the story still went a certain way, and there’s no way around that. But...uh, hold on. That got confusing. Guess what I’m trying to say is you can separate the things you love about a person from the things you don’t, so long as you don’t try and act like the things you don’t never happened. You don’t gotta feel guilty for loving the guy who gave you everything, even if he turned out to do bad stuff later.”

Ashe fell silent. That...made sense, in a strange way. He pulled back from Cyril a little, holding the book he had given him in his hands. After a minute or so of silence, Ashe spoke. “Cyril...thank you. I really needed to hear that.”

Cyril exhaled in relief. “I’m glad that wasn’t the wrong thing ta say…” he put his hands on the other end of the book, “and I’m glad you had someone like Lonato in your life, Ashe. Can’t imagine how hard it is without him.”

Smiling softly, Ashe shook his head. “It was hard for a while, but It’s alright now, because I’ve got a person just as wonderful in my life. He’s strong, and handsome; not to mention talented, smart, diligent, an amazing kisser, generous...he even gifts me books on my birthday.”

A look of confusion crossed Cyril’s face. “Who?”

“You, silly!” Ashe smiled, setting the book down and pulling him into another hug. “I love you so much, Cyril. Thank you for making my birthday so perfect...now get your pajamas on! I want to hold you properly.”

“Whoa, you wanna hold me? Why the change?” Cyril smiled, sighing pleasantly at the warmth of his lover’s body against his own.

“Well, you practically gave me two birthday presents, so I should even things out a little.”

“Two presents?” 

“Yes! The book, of course. But also peace of mind.”

“ _Goddess_ , Ashe!” Cyril laughed, peeling away from him. “You’re so cute, even when you’re teasing me. I’ll get changed…” He stood up from the bed, glancing back at Ashe with a smile as he pulled off his tunic and pants. While putting his head through the hole in the nightshirt, he spoke. “Wow, you’re even cute when you’re staring at me naked.”

Ashe flushed. “Hey, now! I can’t appreciate my boyfriend on my birthday?”

“Nah, you can,” he chuckled in response. “I just had to tease ya a little bit as revenge for you teasing me, y’know?”

“Hmph...well hurry up and get in bed! It’s cold.”

“Alright, alright…” Cyril grinned, pulling on the loose pajama pants and setting his gift on the other bedside table before climbing under the covers. Ashe hummed happily, wrapping his arms around him. They sat without a sound for a few minutes before Ashe sleepily spoke three simple words, said with enough adoration to make Cyril’s heart skip a beat:

“I love you.”

“Love ya, too, Ashe. Did’ya have a good birthday?”

“Mhm…” Ashe yawned, eyes closing. “The best.” 

After saying that, It wasn’t long before Ashe drifted off to sleep. Cyril wasn’t far behind, either. For whatever reason, the blankets on Lonato’s bed felt more inviting than they had in a long, long while.

**Author's Note:**

> hi, thanks for reading! this is the first fic ive posted on this account, but expect more soon...ish. maybe


End file.
